The Story of Peverell
by Nightblue
Summary: What is the story behind the onyx ring? Go back a thousand years to the founding of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Harry Potter. It is owned by J.K. Rowling and her affiliates.

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A thousand years ago, there lived four great, powerful wizard and witches. There was the loyal and courageous Godric Gryffindor, the sly and cunning Salazar Slytherin, the wise and knowledgeable Rowena Ravenclaw, and the kind and gentle Helga Hufflepuff.

After many years of building in an unmappable area, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry soon opened to young magical children in Britain.

Among them was the young and sweet Eleanor Peverell, who entranced with her almond, brilliant green eyes. She was excited for the opportunity to learn, during a time when muggles forbade their daughters from receiving an education. Eleanor was bright and talented, catching the interest of Godric Gryffindor, and he placed her into his House.

As she was placed in his house, he realized that she was more bright than others, and needed extra nudging. He gave her many tasks to do, such as researching in the library and giving her extra assignments. Eleanor especially loved doing this, for it gave her a sense of importance and she was fascinated of the things she learned.

Despite all of the good qualities that Eleanor showed, she was isolated by her peers with blatant ignorance. Godric noticed this, and invited her into his office for a quick chat, hoping to know more about the bright student.

They soon became good friends, and Eleanor began to look forward to the visits, although Gryffindor House was meant for unity, she was left alone to her studies while others played games and ate snacks together. She longed for a friend to confide in, and it was not possible to do so with her classmates, in a school full of pureblooded prejudice.

There was also an unfortunate situation where Professor Slytherin continually harassed her, which he sometimes threw Eleanor's potions to the floor. While she cried, Professor Slytherin would bark, "Your worthlessness abhors me! How you deserve to come to this school is beyond me!"

Poor Eleanor Peverell was in the crossfire of Salazar Slytherin's rage against muggleborns, for he detested what he called "mudbloods," and would look for a way to expel her from school. She dutifully continued her work without complaint, for she'd rather face the cruel potions master than deal with her unloving family at home.

She spent her free time in Professor Gryffindor's office, assisting him in his silly transfiguration experiments. Eleanor knew that he had a dream of creating a magnificent animal, one that would live forever and be loyal to its master. Sadly, the experiments often went wrong, and they would end up with squelching slugs and

croaking one-eyed birds.

"I think I have gotten this right," the professor would say as Eleanor giggled at the belching bird. "…or maybe not."

Eleanor thought he was a bit mad, but enjoyed the experiments all the same.

The school year finally came to a close, and Eleanor sighed in sadness, not wanting to leave the school she called home. She reminded herself that the new school year was just two months away, and that she was going to see her friend again, soon.

The days passed by as she sat in her room, waiting if the professor would send her an owl. She wanted to hear things from the wizarding world, whether it was news or a personal note.

Eleanor was bored in the muggle world, where her family consisted of generations of Lords and Ladies, a society that she hated and wished to escape from. Although muggles were aware of the wizarding world during that time, they shunned the magical folk, just as the pureblooded shunned the muggleborns. Eleanor was stuck between the two societies, where each rejected her harshly.

Her heart would skip a beat whenever a bird passed by, hoping it was an owl, and was thoroughly disappointed when it was not. She began to wonder if it was all her imagination and that she had lived a dream for an entire year.

So, of course she was ecstatic when an owl flew toward her window with a parchment attached to its leg finally. Eleanor swung the window open and untied the letter. She was disappointed, for it was only a letter from Professor Ravenclaw, announcing the start of the new term at Hogwarts. She sighed, glumly wondering if Professor Gryffindor cared at all about her. Perhaps their friendship was only a temporary thing, one that would end after he was tired of her presence.

The school year finally came, and she flew home on one of the school's magic carpets. As she followed the mass of students into the great hall, she was happy to see Professor Gryffindor waving and smiling at her. He told her he was sorry for not owling her during the summer, and informed her that his owl had abandoned him after his attempt to turn it into a fire-breathing frog.

As the years passed by, their friendship and trust grew stronger, and Eleanor had to admit that his experiments were getting better with practice.

She had grown into a very lovely lady, and her brilliant green eyes were her best feature, entrancing the boys who had previously shunned her.

It was interesting to see the male students trying to defend her when Professor Slytherin began to yell at her, resulting in a week's worth of detention for half the class. Eleanor hid under the table in embarrassment.

Professor Gryffindor was especially irked, although for a completely different reason. Whenever he caught the male students staring at her longingly, his head would go up into flames, and he'd feel like strangling them all to death. After calming himself down, he'd tell himself not to feel that way, for he was only her mentor, and she his student. He then pushed the thought into the back of his mind, trying never to think of it again.

Because of that, he was unprepared for the emptiness he felt as Eleanor's graduation came near. He lingered in his office feeling downhearted, wishing that there was some way for her to stay with him. He had a fleeting thought of failing her, but that was utterly selfish.

The door opened, and Eleanor stepped through with a meek look on her face. "Professor," she said, "I have a present for you." She handed him a package, wrapped with brown paper and string. "It isn't much, but I knitted them myself. I wanted to leave you with something, since I won't be coming back." She glanced at him with a sad smile, and bade him goodbye, thanking him for a wonderful friendship. The office that was once warm and inviting, was now cold and empty.

Professor Gryffindor stared at the object, neither touching it, nor wanting to open it. To open it would signal the end of her stay, and he did not want that. But finally, he picked up the courage to rip open the package, and looked at what was inside.

It was a pair of hand-woven socks, gray and pilled with lint, but it was a work of love, just the same.

A single tear fell from his eye as heartache trickled through him. He wanted her to stay with him, laugh at his jokes and watch his unfortunate experimental mistakes. But she was gone from him, and he was lonely once more.

Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff did their best to cheer Gryffindor up, but it was useless as he stared dully at the ceiling. They knew that he was in love with Eleanor Peverell, and took pity on him. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw racked their brains, while Slytherin snorted that "Eleanor Peverell was best tossed in the gutter along with all other Muggles."

After walking throughout the school, Ravenclaw came up with an idea, and sent an owl immediately.

The new term soon came, and Gryffindor stared at the mass of students that marched through the doors. The first years looked in awe at the Great Hall, excited at being inside the magnificent school, like Eleanor first did. Gryffindor ignored their cheerfulness, for cheerfulness had abandoned him at the end of last term.

Ravenclaw cleared her throat, and Gryffindor jerked his head up, seeing the flock of students sitting at their respective tables. The sorting was over, and it was time to address the crowd.

"Er… welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Well, there's no time for announcements, since I'm sure you're all hungry. Let's eat!" He quickly sat down, trying to hide his embarrassment. Ravenclaw raised her eyebrow at him as the food appeared before them.

"There is something I must speak with you about," Ravenclaw said, slyly. "Our book collection has reached a large number, and it has been hard for the students to sort through them. I took the time to hire a caretaker for these books, and I believe she will be the right person to help the students. Perhaps we should go visit her after dinner?"

Gryffindor nodded uninterestingly, not caring if the new librarian was a billiwig or a troll.

So at Ravenclaw's insistence, he walked toward the library, wondering why nobody else was going with him. He fell backward as a force slammed into him, hugging him tightly, and full of tears.

Ravenclaw had owled Eleanor over the summer, requesting for her assistance in handling the library work. It was the perfect timing, for Eleanor's family had threatened to throw her out to the streets after school. She had no regrets, for she was glad to be back in the place in which she called home.

The two great friends spent the entire night on the grass, telling each other how their summers went, laughing as the moon shone upon their faces. The only one who was not pleased was Slytherin, who was enraged at how easily Eleanor slipped through his fingers and had gotten into Hogwarts for the second time. He plotted a way to dispose of her, and enforce the "pureblooded" policy he had insisted on making.

Salazar Slytherin began to develop an interest in Eleanor, watching her every move. He was now a dangerous man, feeling the deadly, maniacal combination of infatuation and disgust with Eleanor Peverell. He wanted to have her, and yet also wanted to eliminate her. He had slowly become insane throughout the years, torturing those who dared defy him.

Eleanor was unfortunately unaware of his lust for her, and went on with her life as the school librarian. The students all loved Eleanor, for she cared for them and helped them with their schoolwork when needed. The library had become a warm place, and people chatted quietly with each other as they studied.

Gryffindor came to the library more times than he should have, but Eleanor welcomed him brightly and they spent their free time together. It wasn't long before they finally realized their mutual love for each other, and they were soon engaged to be married. The two lovers became very happy, getting lost in themselves as the wedding loomed near.

Gryffindor had finally created the creature that he had dreamed of, and it stared beautifully at him, with its scarlet and gold feathers, singing an unusual song that swelled in his heart and gave him joy. It was a bird the size of a swan, and it was the loveliest creature anyone had laid eyes on.

Gryffindor gave it to his bride as a wedding gift, hoping it would bring her happiness. Eleanor giggled as she stroked the bird, cooing it as it gave another wonderful song. "What is its name?" she whispered.

"Well, I was thinking of the name 'Plumpykin.'" Gryffindor pondered as he scratched his chin.

The bird gave a squawk of indignation at the name, and turned its back at Gryffindor, fluffing its golden tail feathers in his face.

Eleanor laughed, and smiled fondly at the bird. "I shall name it 'Fawkes,'" she declared.

Fawkes sang an exquisite song, indicating that it thought the name was a lovely idea.

The bird had many magical abilities that Gryffindor knew nothing about, which frightened and fascinated him at the same time. Sometimes it would disappear in a flash of flames, and then reappear in the same state. Most oddly, when Eleanor got a deep cut on her finger from the books, Fawkes cried over it, and the tears caused the wound to disappear. They both agreed that Fawkes was the most wonderful creature in the world, and they were lucky to have the only one in existence.

Hogwarts soon had its first Triwizard Tournament, and the school cheered in excitement as students from Durmstrang and Beauxbaton filtered into the castle.

Everyone in the sixth and seventh years picked the perfect dress robes from the nearby town in Hogsmeade for the upcoming Yule Ball.

The Great Hall was decorated magnificently, with golden streamers hanging from the enchanted ceiling and lighted fairies flying around the room. The music was soft and cheerful, while everybody danced and laughed together.

Slytherin crept toward Eleanor, slyly, and Eleanor shuddered as he closed in on her. "Lovely ball, is it not?" Slytherin said with a sneer. Godric was in the kitchens gathering more food and wine, for the partiers had eaten them quickly. It was the perfect time for Slytherin to execute his plan.

"Yes…" Eleanor said nervously as she moved away from him, slowly. "I must go now… I need to watch the students." She turned away, not noticing the potion that

Slytherin slipped into her wine goblet. It was a very potent potion…

… one that was called Amortentia.

It was not long until Eleanor became obsessed with Slytherin, who had cast the Imperius Curse on her, along with regular intervals of the love potion. Eleanor broke her betrothal to Gryffindor blindly, feeling no remorse as she left him. Gryffindor and Slytherin fought with vigor, for Gryffindor was enraged that both of his friends had betrayed him.

Slytherin scoffed at Gryffindor, seized Eleanor by the arm, and took their things to Slytherin Manor, leaving Hogwarts for good.

Gryffindor sent Fawkes to watch over Eleanor, saddened with the fact that he may never see her again. He was afraid of what Slytherin may do to her, and wanted Fawkes to protect her if it was ever needed.

The sky stormed with frightening thunder the night Eleanor Peverell became Eleanor Slytherin, and the trees swayed under the harsh winds. Eleanor stared coldly ahead as she sat in the high back wooden chair, breathing deeply as Slytherin stared at the ring in his hand. It was a golden ring with a large, ugly, black onyx stone perched on the prongs, enameled with the Peverell crest. He grasped it into his hands, feeling enraged at the insignificance of the piece of jewelry.

"Is this what your family thinks of you? To send such a small token as your dowry is extremely insulting to me!" Slytherin sneered as he pulled her head back by the hair. She gasped. "I suppose they gave me what you were worth. Absolutely _nothing_."

He let go of her hair, and trudged toward the table, taking up a wooden box with the Slytherin crest engraved on it. "It does not matter, now," he drawled, as he strolled toward Eleanor again. "For I shall give you an heirloom that is a thousand times more than what you are worth." He took off the lid, revealing a golden locket, shimmering in the fireplace light with the monogrammed "S." "Take it up now, Eleanor, for it will be the only valuable thing I will ever give you."

The cold, heavy locket fell upon her neck, taking control of her mind and soul. Slytherin removed the Imperius curse, for it was no longer needed when the cursed locket did its terrible work.

The days turned to months, and the months turned to years, and Eleanor Slytherin had given birth to a healthy child named Hrothulf. He was the only one in the household that she truly loved, and she treated him with a tenderness that his father would never fathom. With him, she could be happy and forget all the worries in the world.

It was then that Slytherin finally decided it was safe to remove the cursed locket, and Eleanor's eyes widened in recognition of what terrible things she had done. She screamed at her husband, and threatened to call the Aurors to kill him.

Slytherin seized her by the arm, and yelled, "If you attempt to abandon me, I will kill the baby! Choose wisely, Eleanor, for his fate lies with you!"

Eleanor gave a shudder as she raced toward her room, grasping Hrothulf tightly in her arms as she sobbed. No matter what Slytherin threatened her with, no matter how many years she had to live with him, Eleanor would never let cruel Slytherin take the life of her son.

She spent her days locked in her room, with only the company of Hrothulf and Fawkes. She thought about sending Fawkes to Gryffindor to plead for help, but she told herself that she did not deserve his help, for she had abandoned him years before. She stayed with the two in utter despair, and was only comforted when Fawkes sang her a song, but not for very long.

The months passed, and Slytherin soon began to take up a lady friend by the name of Priscilla, who had a cold beauty in her snobbish face. Her hair was deep brown and her lips were the color of oxygenated blood, with an air of evilness that churned inside her.

Eleanor became afraid, wondering if that woman were there to replace her in Eleanor's death. Now that she knew that Slytherin was murderous, she knew not to rule that possibility out.

As she feared, Slytherin found the perfect opportunity to do her in, during supper, a week later. He watched her closely as she ate, narrowing his eyes as she failed to do the right action.

Eleanor looked warily across the table from him, taking the goblet of wine into her shaking hands. She raised the goblet to her lips, and noticed something wrong with the liquid. It was not blood red as red wine was supposed to be, but pitch black. Eleanor gave a shudder as she lowered the goblet down on the table, looking hesitantly around to find an escape. She was unable to disapparate inside the manor, for Slytherin had cast spells on the building to prevent that from happening. Her chest heaved as she hyperventilated, thinking of Hrothulf inside the other room, unaware of the plot against his and her lives.

"Are you not going to drink that?" Slytherin said slowly.

She took the goblet to her mouth, and pursed her lips together to prevent the poison from entering her mouth. She lowered the goblet, shaking terribly.

Slytherin scowled as the poison did not do its work, and demanded that she drink the wine again.

She brought the goblet to her pursed lips again, knowing that it would not fool him at all.

Slytherin finally snapped, and lunged toward her neck with unsuppressed rage. Eleanor let out a loud scream and tried to fight him off, losing terribly. Her face became blue as she choked from his strong grasp.

Fawkes, who had heard the scream, flew out of Eleanor's room and attacked Slytherin with its sharp claws and beak. It gouged a deep wound in Slytherin's arm, and chased him out the door, leaving Eleanor gasping for breath on the floor.

She hurriedly raced toward her room, where Hrothulf was sleeping soundly through the loud screams that permeated the Slytherin Manor. She roughly picked him up from the crib, tossing her belongings into bags, and raced out the door of the Manor. She had no time to look for Fawkes, but hoped deeply that it would come find her later. She disapparated to an isolated hut in the middle of the forest, and then finally collapsed to the ground, her feet unable to hold her weight.

Just as expected, Fawkes appeared before Eleanor in a flash of flames, and flew toward her. Eleanor told Fawkes that he did a great duty of protecting them both, and she fell into a deep slumber.

It was a few days later that Eleanor realized that she had not enough food or supplies to survive in the woods, and reluctantly sent Fawkes to Gryffindor to ask for help. Fawkes was the only one who could trace Gryffindor, and apparating to him was impossible. Fawkes looked worriedly at Eleanor, unsure whether it was wise to leave her. But since Fawkes was always loyal to his master and mistress, he left her in another flash of flames.

Unfortunately, it was the right moment for Slytherin to take her. He had waited patiently deep inside the woods for the time when Fawkes would leave for help. He cast a Fidelius Charm on Eleanor and Hrothulf, and kidnapped them to a secret place up in the mountains.

It was there that Eleanor took her final breath.

Gryffindor appeared before the hut with Fawkes, watching worriedly around the woods. Fawkes tried to search in futile for his mistress inside its brain, and came up with nothing. Gryffindor searched the hut for any signs of her, wishing that nothing horrible had happened to his beloved Eleanor. He saw the wrappings of the food that she had brought and the wrinkles of the blankets from where she slept.

Fawkes sensed the last living pulse of Eleanor Peverell… and then sensed nothing. It let out a wail of grief, the sound pulsating through the entire forest. Its grief was filled with anger at the injustice of her death, and its inability to prevent it. It had failed its mistress, incapable of saving her when it made a vow to do so. Its song was mournful and yet beautiful at the same time, mirroring the agony that Gryffindor felt in his heart.

As Eleanor had hoped, however, Hrothulf had survived, and lived as Slytherin's heir. Slytherin had told the terrible lie that his pureblooded first wife had died a sudden and accidental death that night. All that was left of her was a portrait that hung above the Slytherin fireplace, which was placed under a permanent silencing charm, to prevent it from speaking the true tale. Other wizards and witches had not dared to challenge the lie, for Salazar Slytherin was a great and horrifying wizard. Hrothulf lived with that lie his entire life, passing it on generation to generation all the way down to the Gaunts. He had grown into a cruel man like his father, for he had not lived his life with Eleanor's love, and became cold and malicious.

Gryffindor married another woman, with Fawkes faithfully at his side during his entire life. Although he was happy with his wife, he could never forget the lovely Eleanor Peverell, whom he vowed to avenge. No one else, not even the family of Peverell, sought to avenge her or seek a death price.

After having many children, Gryffindor died of old age, leaving Fawkes to wander the world for 800 years, waiting to appear to the Heir of Gryffindor, who would bring justice to his tragic mistress. The magnificent bird was spotted in all areas around the world, legends arising from the awe of the authors as they listened to its melodious singing. The English named the bird the "phoenix."

800 years later, Fawkes finally appeared before the Heir of Gryffindor. It came to him in all its original glory, perched grandly on the high-back wooden chair, with an air of importance as it greeted the Heir with a sweet welcoming song.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore looked curiously at the phoenix, wondering how in the world the bird got into his office without setting off any of his alarms.

Through telepathy, Fawkes told him about the story of Eleanor Peverell, and what evil deeds the Heir of Slytherin planned to do. It felt a sense of great relief as Dumbledore agreed to help the phoenix, although for very different reasons. As the greatest wizard of his age, Albus felt it important to use his powers to protect the wizarding world from danger. Fawkes became Albus Dumbledore's companion, loyal to him as it was to the great Godric Gryffindor, protecting him as he faced many difficulties.

Two years later, a handsome young man with cold unfeeling eyes came upon the ruins of the Slytherin manor. Tom Riddle wandered around the structure, gazing upon the memories of his ancestors. He finally came upon the portrait of Eleanor, fascinated as the character slept within her frame. The onyx ring was wrapped around her finger and the golden locket draped from her throat, and there was a caption on the bottom of the portrait that read, "Eleanor Peverell Slytherin." Tom tapped the portrait awake, and removed the silencing charm with his special brand of magic. From the portrait, he had learned the tragic story of Peverell, one that the character had strained to tell for many years. Unfortunately for the portrait, Tom Riddle had no sympathy for Eleanor, finding her weak like his deceased mother Merope Gaunt, who used no magic to protect herself from death.

Tom Riddle cast another silencing charm on the portrait, much to its dismay, and disapparated from the ruins, leaving a small, badger engraved golden cup buried next to the portrait.

Many years passed by, and he became more and more powerful with his vast knowledge of magic. As Voldemort (as Tom Riddle was now called) gathered more followers, one could speculate that if Eleanor were still alive, she would balk at the missions that strove to "eliminate the mudblood race and purify the wizarding world." The irony in the mission was that Voldemort was not pureblooded at all, and neither was the family of Gaunts before him. The entire line that descended from Hrothulf Slytherin was "muddied" with muggleborn descent, and had fought for their pureblooded beliefs in sheer ignorance. Voldemort had fully known about the secret, and yet used the lie as a persuasive device for his followers.

Years later, Voldemort faced a situation similar to Salazar Slytherin's, gazing at a woman with bright green almond eyes, who stood in front of a baby's crib as she pleaded with him. He had already faced her husband, whom he killed in a flash of green light. The woman was at the end of her rope, shielding her baby from his view.

"Please! Not Harry!" Lily Potter cried as she tried to protect her baby son.

Voldemort laughed coldly at the irony of the situation, remembering the story the portrait of Eleanor told him many years ago. Lily had the same entrancing green eyes as the portrait, which amused him greatly. Voldemort yelled, "_Get out of the way, woman_!" to see if she would do just the same as the unfortunate Eleanor Peverell, an action to which he considered a great mistake.

Unfortunately for him, Voldemort had forgotten about an ancient love spell, one of which Eleanor Peverell had used on her own son, Hrothulf. If Salazar Slytherin had ever tried to kill Hrothulf, the killing curse would rebound, and kill Slytherin himself.

With high pitched laughter, Voldemort destroyed Lily with a killing curse, stepping over her fallen body toward the crib. He lazily dangled the phoenix feather wand from his long-fingered hands. It would be an action that would lead Voldemort, the last heir of Slytherin, to his ultimate downfall.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

As Voldemort's spirit left his body, the house went up into flames, and a sense of release could be felt throughout Godric's Hollow. All that was left was a baby boy who cried in his crib, frightened as the flames surrounded him, but he was safe, nevertheless. Harry Potter was to now face his destiny, one that was determined by Voldemort's action through a Prophecy.

He would have his own resolve to destroy the Heir of Slytherin, for his parents, godfather, classmates, and mentors. Some would die in his presence, giving him more reason to defeat the horrifying enemy. He would do what the Heir of Gryffindor could not do, for the Heir would die in his effort to protect Harry. But Harry was the perfect man for the job, brave and loyal to Dumbledore as he was. Even though he was not a Gryffindor by blood, he was one by heart, and would be able to bring justice to the two women who died protecting their sons from the forces of evil.

It now rested on Harry Potter to destroy the horcruxes of the Heir of Slytherin, and to battle him to the death. The last battle will determine the fate of the wizarding world, and Godric Gryffindor and Eleanor Peverell will be there watching over him.

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Ah... this was reposted after going through a BETA-reader. Thank you, SirenaPotter! 


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